Water Monitoring

When it comes to climate change, almost all the attention is on the air. What is happening to the water, however, is just as worrying — although, for the moment, it may be slightly more manageable.

Here is the problem in a seashell: As the oceans absorb about a quarter of the carbon dioxide released by fossil-fuel burning, the pH level in the underwater world is falling, creating the marine version of climate change. Ocean acidification is rising at its fastest pace in 300 million years, scientists say.

A new technology will make testing water quality at Michigan beaches faster. And that means safer swimming.

County water departments  are required to test  public beach water for E. coli contamination. But the testing process has been pretty slow – it can take around 24 hours for results to come in. That means that a health department may not close a beach a full day after it discovers water was unsafe for swimmers. 

Steve Stevens was skeptical when specialists from the University of Arkansas asked him to participate in a nutrient runoff monitoring program as one of nine “Discovery Farms” in the state during the winter of 2012-2103

Stevens, a cotton, corn, rice and soybean grower who has a reputation for being a highly innovative producer, had read a lot of media coverage about how farmers in the Mississippi Valley were to blame for the “dead” zone or hypoxia zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

China’s battle against pollution is getting some help from Jack Ma’s 500 million-strong army.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the e-commerce giant founded by Ma, is asking the public to participate in mapping water quality across China to raise environmental awareness. With testing kits sold through the company for as little as 65 yuan ($10), volunteers can measure pollutants in freshwater sources and upload the data to a digital map via smartphones.